No No No November Already? Got Preps?

Wow I cannot believe that it is already November 2011. UNBELIEVABLE how quickly the year has gone buy. It is going to be a mere 3 weeks until Turkey Day. As I did my slide show and recap for the month of October I realized I was so busy I didn't do as much as I usually do. I basically had it in my head that for the months of November and December I was going to kick it into high gear. For the last 11 months I have maintained a minimum of 50lbs of food a week in preps. 50 lbs is a regular week - 100 lbs is a more normal week and 400lbs is a fantastic week.

Some people ask how do I calculate what I need. I have a very basic formula - 1lb of food per person per meal. That is a REALLY high estimate and it assumes waste (there won't be waste) So let's say that it is Mr.Man and Me...for 3 meals that would be 6 lbs. Out of the 6 lbs you have to figure out bread - it takes about 1.5lbs of flour to make 2 good sized loaves and that would be 2 days worth or maybe not in an emergency. So lets say breakfast is oatmeal with nuts with milk and fruit. Morning snack is maybe a half sandwich. Lunch is a bean and veggie salad, and some tacos, afternoon snack is homemade trail mix or crackers and cheese, dinner is some form of stew with bread or rice. Truth be told a lot of these meals extend into secondary meals and I could make 4lbs of food work, but I calculate the 6 because if we start to do a LOT of physical labor we will also be more hungry. It is the easiest formula I could figure out.

Some of the more intensive folks do caloric content, fat content and all that. I'm not into all that because I can do a menu and make something out of whatever we've got. I personally don't think it's fair to tell people to learn yet another thing (caloric intake values) on top of all the other stuff they are trying to learn. I think 1lb per person per meal per day - and just make sure that you have veggies/fruits, protein, grains, cereals, fats. Follow the stupid FDA triangle just change their position. You can't go wrong with the formula. In fact you'll have extra.

So here we go - I had a good head start yesterday for November preps:

3 types of nails - 1/2-3/4 full over 10lbs of nails - only $5 per case. yeah you heard me. Those bostich nails alone are worth well over 50 bucks b/c they sell those about $1 per strip.

I love you Ace Hardware!














8 cases pints $10 each
1 case half pints (straight side) $7.50 ea

sugar at Wally world is still $13.48 a bag.

I went ahead and got a bag it's not getting cheaper that's for dang sure - in fact the price of it seems to be going up everywhere else.




I stopped at target for Halloween Candy and found these notebooks on clearance for 62 cents - I just picked a dozen of the prints I liked - that should keep me in notebooks for a few semesters. yaaay ME.









I found this Mitre box for Mr. Man...I thought 2 bucks sounded good. I don't know much about these things.











I've been wanting egg timers for awhile but they are always so dang expensive - Lucky me I found these last 2 for $3 each. Now I can tell myself onion is for canner, garlic is for oven. I left the bellpepper one. haha.








The staple gun seemed handy mine is just a plastic job. The staples were only $1. Seemed like a good price to me.











I found this at Ace hardware too - I'm just gonna throw it in my backpack...You never know right!











You can see a weird bowl in my photos of eggshells and veggie trimmings - that's my compost stuff from the kitchen lol.

You cannot imagine how happy I was to find this kitchen compost pail for only $7. Supposedly they are upwards of $50. All I know is 7 bucks sounded good to me haha.






I know how gross. i don't care - We like them and they were on sale this week for 99 cents - I had Wally World price match Fresh and Easy - I picked all the ones that expire dec 23 2011 and I'm still gonna freeze them.

I bought 20 pkgs - 10 for my house and 10 for my sisters house. I figure that's enough.




Got some new hair lotion for Mr. Man...2 containers of buttermilk (over $3) not on sale and a 4 pack of the pint jars the fancy ones I like for butter. I don't know why I like the butter in the odd looking containers.

jar lids - 99 cents price match

It was so weird they only had these 4 boxes of lids left in that whole store - super strange.


Pineapple was still 97 cents - so I picked up another 7. That should make at least 15 more pints. That should be good - it will bring our total amount of canned pineapple to 2.5 cases.











Finally I picked up ground lean (93%) for $2.49 a lb that is still expensive to me 5 wks ago ground lean was only $1.69. I also found this Italian Sausage 5for5 but it had an instant $2 off coupon - so 24 oz of Italian sausage for only $3 pretty good. The pork chops are a request from a friend who did us a favor so I'll be making his favorite dish - Pork Adobo!

That's it - that's my kick start - Everyone please go out and do something - do anything. Prices are going up 20-40% every single time I go to the store and I don't care if I do have the money I do not wanna waste it. Vitamins and basic body lotions are horrendously expensive. Please look around and see the silent anger and mortification in peoples faces with only 3-4 things in their cart because they simply cannot afford the things they once ate. Sad.

ps) I have been watching this one dude make excuses why he can't do as many preps as other people because he doesn't have the money and blah blah blah - M****f**** please. I'm just sayin - if you've been doing this for almost 2 years why have your preps decreased? We're on a very tight budget and we make it. Goodness gracious - if you don't have the stomach to be a winner just lay down and take it from the powers that be - HAHA.

October - One Week has passed Already?

Hello Everyone!


It's been pretty crazy but last weekend I managed to can 15 pints of beef









We have had chicken at a very good price recently but truth be told this house loves beef - and if I ask anyone what do you want to eat - BEEF is almost always the answer. Also since we are trimming the budget until December we are probably using the preps 2-3 times a week.








I got potatoes and carrots at a steal last week so I canned those - and the Atlas jars from the classico pasta worked just fine...like almost everyone said - and I do like how BIG they are.









4 quarts potatoes
5 pints potatoes (some with carrots)
4 pints carrots

it's amazing what you can do when you are really determined to get it done huh?








Last week I got 3 pineapples for 3 dollars and canned them midweek to test it. Some folks said when they have canned pineapple it's been very bland but these ones were very good - not like bush ripe but for box ripened - I won't complain.

Cost is about 42 cents a pint when you can it yourself. I do add a touch of lemon juice - not only for safety but also for flavor.



At one point I overcooked this pineapple syrup a bit too hot so that's why it has that brownish color. I caught it right before it turned amber LOL scary thought to have to wash a burnt pan from carbonized pineapple simple syrup.








Yesterday there were a few sales and I always stop by the 99 cent only before I hit the regular stores. I just hit the stores randomly - and it kind of trips me out how there is always something good when i say "let's check..."

I found this sri lankan tea 100 bags 99 cents
organic greens and spinach 99 cents




I checked the freezer for some frozen peas and beef sausage - yes on the peas..and guess WHAT - butterball kielbasa 99 cents. exp 11/27/2011.
I think they had 9 in there and I took them all.

I also picked up sunflower seeds and persian cucumbers -also 99 cents.





3 dishtowels were 99 cents
At the next store the chicken breast was 1.49 a lb but there were only 2 little packets left. Better something than nothing at least I could use it for a couple meals.









The cilantro was 33 cents.
The vitamin E with coconut oil - 99 cents.












El Pato was 79 cents
tomatoes 3 lbs 99 cents
jalapenos 3 lbs 99 cents











Cabbage was 6lbs 99 cents limit 3 heads













Limes 2lbs 96 cents













Pears 3 lbs for 99 cents

The limit was 6lbs but there were 2 of us so I got 12 lbs.










10 lbs of pears made 13 pints
2.5 lbs of limes made 3 pints of 75% juice.

I'm going to wait awhile to make juice by hand again especially using a reamer.

I'm tough but tired. haha



Click here for Pear Canning Video



Yesterday before Lit class I stopped by Ace Hardware - I've decided that even though Ace Hardware charges 50 cents more a case I am going to buy my jars there because it is privately owned - at least the one by our house is.

a case of pint jars is 10 bucks
a 6 pack of HALF GAL jars was 10.50

Kind of pricey but it is what it is.



Pineapple $1 ea at Sprouts.
reg jar lids $1.29
wide mouth lids $1.59
pectin free with coupon

I got 3 of those- I think 2 of them fell out in the car - LOL I'm discombobulated lately.






Here are the pineapples broken down...I saved the leaves for the compost as well as the trim.

When Mr.Man got home he walked through the laundry room and said WOW our house smells like pineapples! haha. That's so great - Eat THAT febreeze!








4 fresh pineapples made 8 pints plus leftovers of about 2 cups. Not painful at all because it's water bath canning...

click here to watch canning pineapple video

That's pretty much my shopping week. School has been hectic and good. I'm actually ahead in Lit because I'm such a spazz I finished my paper last Wednesday night and it isn't due until this coming Tuesday - HAHA. Imagine that. I took a Math test and it wasn't anything I really studied for and I made 3 really silly mistakes from overcorrecting it and got an 86 which brought my class average to like 94 or something. I've got some really nice people in my classes this semester - much better than last semester.

I'm just hanging in there. I'm trying to get a part time job at a coffee place or something so I can at least get some free coffee and a few hours. It seems that Mr. Man is not down with this. I know I mentioned that he already changed jobs for an increase in pay, better hours and more vacation time - but tonight he called me to tell me that he will be doing some flooring work a few Saturdays a month for extra money because I could use the money for jars.

I was really touched when he said that because he already got an increase so there wouldn't be pressure for me to work. I seriously respect him - not only because he is bringing home the bacon but because he went out and did MORE than I expected and I didn't have to nag him or something to make it happen - he did it of his own Accord. I'm not really the nagging type I've never got on his ass about money or I want this, or you have to get me this or stuff that ham head girls might do - that's just not my thing.

We prep not only for what we have but what we will have.

He is a good man truly.

September 2011 preps so far...

It's a transitional month for us - Mr. man is transitioning to a new job with a significant raise and I am transitioning BACK into school. I am taking compressed classes and I'm really not in the mood to go. Lately I am very irritated by people and I feel anti social. But I will do what I need to do to move forward with what we are doing. So our budget is exceptionally lean. I have also made some preps purchases that I failed to photograph since I have been doing the video thing.

Costco had these large jars of classico for 6.99. The 3 of the 3 quart bottles for 6.99 BUT we had a 2 dollars off coupon. The additional bonus is that these are atlas mason jars and can be reused with rings and lids that are regular mouth - Awesome right!








snack bags and gallon bags were 99 cents. Tin foil was 74 cents at kmart and Dr. Kens toothpaste was only 80 cents. Mr. Man thinks that we should have 2 years of toothpaste in rotation but we are well above that at this point.









I've never seen this before - I popped by Kmart lookin for jars and they had these for 99 cents. There is no high fructose corn syrup in these just a lot of milk products. I thought I might give it a whirl.









I've started making bread again - 25 lbs of bread flour is only 8 bucks at costco - but 25 lbs of hard white wheat is $15. I just freeze it and put it up in the jars I have. Goodness.










These RAIL planters were only 2.97 at Kmart - they are clearing out their garden dept. We don't really have a need for them but I figure it wouldn't hurt to have them.










Especially since the regular price on them is $12













Cetaphil is our facial and hand moisturizer. These are upwards of $14 a jar. We had 1 left in the cupboard and an almost empty one in the bathroom. However costco had a coupon for 3 dollars off so it was only 8.50 and had the travel size face wash!

Cetaphil is awesome fragrance free and non comodogenic - good for adults and kids. Try some you won't go back




All the produce in this photo was only 99 cents including the organic stuff.












whole wheat pastry flour 69 cents a lb
chocolate chips 2.69 a lb
whole wheat flour 67 cents a lb











Mr. Man popped by the goodwill on the way to pick up the tshirts he had made...he found various jars for 49 cents to 99 cents. Not the best price but it's always good to have jars.










The prize find was this antique ball ideal jar - I love these jars so much! I found someone online who is selling 11 of them for 20 bucks - I am on the fence about it but I may get them because they are both quarts and pints with this clip into the glass lid.








I walked around albertsons while Mr. Man filled the water bottles - we keep 45 gallons in rotation in the kitchen.

I found these giant candles for 2.39
taper candles were 32 cents
votive candles were 37 cents

I could have bought a lot more but I figure a handful is enough because we already have a LOT of candles.



Yeast is very expensive at Albertsons - the jar is 8+ bucks, the 4 packs are 3.99. However they had this packet of wheat for 55 cents. It says especially formulated for wheat bread I will give it a whirl and let you all know how that goes.









grapes were 69 cents a lb
vital gluten was 67 cents a lb (overorder mismark)
more whole wheat flour for 67 cents

This was all bulk @ Sprouts.








Oat Bran was 64 cents a lb
Whey Protein Isolate was $1.87/lb

Whey protein isolate was mismarked - normally it's $8.72/lb. That's whey drink powder - very good to have around the house and to have in your bug out bag. 2 tsps plus 10 oz of water and you have a power drink.

I doubt I'll be doing anymore shopping this week - I feel burnt out and worried lately and the rise in prices is really getting on my nerves.

Beef Barley Soup & How to Can It

A few nights ago I made Beijing Beef - the cut of beef I purchased was 5 lbs. I took one pound off for the beijing beef, two pounds off for a roast for our sandwhiches and salads, used about a half pound of trim for beef stock which left a little over a lb. I went to Sprouts Market and pearl barley was on sale for 74 cents a lb so I decided it was time to make some beef barley soup.

Click here for soup video


Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef cut into small cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups pearl barley
4 green onions
1 medium yellow onion
3 small tomatoes
3 pcs celery
1 medium carrot
1 tbsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp parsley
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp iodized salt

3 quarts beef beef stock
PLUS 7-10 cups water

The soup is very straightforward and when that barley blooms there is an incredible amount of it - so 1.5 cups of uncooked barley is just right for a 5 quart batch - so that's 5 good sized bowls for adults. However if you like yours on the thicker side feel free to add more.

I only held back a small bit for Afro to eat - and I canned the rest of it. Because the nature of a beef barley soup is to thicken and reduce the water I added back water and vegetables prior to canning. That's just me because I like my soup more loose. Feel free to keep it thick if you want to...but that concerns me with canned soups because I'm always afraid it won't process.

Click here for canning beef barley video.

It only made 5 quarts which is enough for me I have a lot of the staples canned up these days so I don't mind adding 5 quarts instead of 8 pints just to add some variety in there. But this soup is definitely handy. Mr. Man actually likes adding extra slices of roast beef in his prior to eating.

Happy Cooking and keep yourselves well. I am very perturbed that they have reduced the quality of the food in this country and at the same time reduced the dosage on the over the counter vitamins. Please eat and store a variety of food and vitamins and take not of the true suggested dosages. Also understand that Vitamin D actually serves you better than Vitamin C in fortifying your immune system...do your homework and you will see that far too many people have a Vitamin D deficiency which leaves you open to illness. Do what you can to keep yourself in the best shape possible - I myself have fallen out of shape since being on fertility meds and it's reallly messing with my head - but as of next week I have decided to take my bike to school and continue with the kick boxing. You must really look at yourself and ask if you are doing all you can or just being a spoiled American and simply "trying" your best. Those who "try" watch from the side - those who "DO" are in the game. It is what it is - just pick where you want to be.

Canning: Cherries

Hello Everyone!

The Canning Junkie is back!


I stopped by Sprouts Market as I needed some more romaine (organic on sale there at 99cents for 3 heads), as I was picking up produce on the way out I noticed a table of cherries - I checked and the price was 99 cents a POUND! What!

I picked up 4 bags but my brother took one home...hahaha I can't decline that guy ever.





Wash and De Stem













I don't have a cherry pitter so I tried with a chop stick. I lined up the tip with the belly button...












Held the fruit loosely and pushed the chopstick through and the pit came out...












My friend CK also suggested an icing tip. Lord knows I have a ton of those so I picked the most narrow tip and set it on a tiny saucer.











Belly button side down













One firm push and the pit is out.













Wash the canner and add a splash of vinegar.
Place on burner on high heat.












Wash/Sanitize jars, lids and rings.
Fill jars halfway with hot water












Set into canner on top of stove.
Cover with lid but do not shut.












Set rings in heat resistant container.
Set lids to dry for a bit












Measure out syrup ingredients:

7 cups water
10 oz apple juice
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice








Set out utensils.
Ensure everything is clean.
If in doubt - wash it twice.











Once you hear canner boiling start syrup.













Unlid canner and begin removing jars.













Remove jars with jar lifter.













Pour hot water onto lids and caps.













Set jars aside on towel.













Fill to the 1/2 inch line.
Tap jars onto your palm to settle them.
Fill again.











Top off with syrup.













Run spatula along sides to burp bubbles.













Wipe Off lip and sides of bottle.
This is rather sticky i did it THRICE.












Grab lids with magnetic lifter.













Line them up and cover lids.













Position rings. Close fingertight.

Please use towels, my hands are very resistant to heat - don't try this at home ;)










Place jars in canner not touching.













Fill with more water to lid level.

Boil Water Canner
pints: 25 minutes
quarts: 30 minutes

I start the time after the nipple pops.







Remove from heat.
Allow to cool.












Try to remove them upwards not side to side.













Once they've cooled remove the rings and check the seals, also wipe down if anything is sticky or tacky. Dry again.











7-8 lbs did make 10 pints. So it would be a good idea to withhold a bit for house eating.












Label and put up!

Happy Canning.

ps) Please follow your ball book directions and check the seals. If the seals don't tighten as they should just put it in the fridge and eat it during the week. OK.